Set the mood for your bee unit by decorating your classroom door and bulletin boards with bee decorations. Make a large paper beehive and place it on your classroom door. Make a sign for your classroom saying something like "Mrs. Smith's Buzzing Hive" or "We're Busy as Bees in Mrs. Smith's Class." Have each student decorate a cutout paper bee with crayons, markers and other art supplies. Write each student's name on their paper bee and glue them to the beehive on your door.
Create a beehive and bees (use a template or clipart if desired). Attach Velcro pieces to the beehive and bees, so the bees can be attached and removed from the hive. Have students count the bees and organize them in groups of five or 10 bees. Customize your lesson based on your students' math skills. You can also print sheets of paper with bee outlines and have students create patterns by coloring the bees. For instance, have students color two black bees followed by one yellow bee and repeat the pattern throughout the sheet.
Choose books that feature bees for reading time. Read books, such as "The Honey Bee and the Robber," by Eric Carle, "Are You a Bee?" by Judy Allen and "Bumble Bee" by Margaret Wise Brown. Books about bees are not only good literacy lessons, they also help children learn about the science of bees and their importance to the world and ecosystem.
Use a bee template and cut out bee body parts (head, abdomen, wings, antennae, feet) from construction paper and have students put them together with paste. Students can then use markers and crayons to draw stripes or decorate the bees. Add wiggly eyes if desired. For another creative art project, give each student a crayon (put a bumblebee sticker on the end if you wish) and a sheet of blank paper. Play "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov and have the students draw with their crayon the flight they think the bumblebee would take. Read about bees and honey and then have children taste honey (check that there are no food allergies first). Children can dip apple slices into hone, or create a snack as a class by following a simple recipe using honey.